Movie review: Penn revives the voice of a gay icon in Milk’

Wednesday

Nov 26, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2008 at 9:30 PM

Film chronicles the life and times of the slain San Francisco politician

Al Alexander

For Sean Penn, acting is all about execution – literally. In three of his last four movies – “All the King’s Men,” “21 Grams,” “The Assassination of Richard Nixon” – his characters have failed to make it to the final credits. And in the one movie he did survive, “The Interpreter,” he was murdered by the critics.

You could say he’s No. 1 with a bullet. And it’s not about to change, as he adds more ammunition to his cannon in “Milk,” Gus Van Sant’s riveting account of the life, times – and death – of Harvey Milk, the nation’s first openly gay person elected to public office.

It’s easily one of Penn’s finest performances, as he throws his heart, soul and anything else he can find into a deeply affecting portrayal of the man who’s been called the Martin Luther King of the gay rights movement.

Penn is so good, you almost forget it’s him behind those garish 1970s fashions, conjuring Milk’s martyred soul with resonance and panache.

Matching him in intensity and scope is the suddenly red-hot Josh Brolin, sensational as Dan White, Milk’s onetime ally on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the man who assassinated Milk and Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) in their city hall offices in November 1978.

Brolin slyly telegraphs White’s going-postal tendencies with well-placed subtleties in tone and rhetoric, while also eliciting great empathy for a man who many believe was jealous of Milk because he lacked the courage to come out of the closet himself.

The evolution of their relationship from friends to political enemies proves a fascinating study in human behavior, but it’s only part of a richly made film that celebrates Milk’s life from his early years as a stockbroker in the Big Apple to his final days in San Francisco.

It’s a rousing journey, to be sure, and one that eloquently captures all the joy, frustration and disappointment that went into it.

Like the current president-elect, Milk started out as a “community organizer,” rallying his friends and neighbors in Frisco’s famed Castro district to unite against gay bashing.

It’s in these early, formative years that “Milk” excels, as Penn and Van Sant effectively recreate the thrill of spit-upon underdogs rising up, demanding a voice and then using it to express their displeasure at the ballot box.

And if the screenplay by Dustin Lance Black loses some of that enthusiasm as the film takes a darker turn in a dour third act, it always remains committed to showing the real Milk, warts and all.

That candidness is particularly valuable in exploring Milk’s love life, first with Scott Smith (a terrific James Franco), the much younger companion who accompanied Milk on his move from New York to California, and later Jack Lira (a tad over the top Diego Luna), the gorgeous but flighty model who defines “high maintenance.”

It’s safe to say both men paid a heavy price, getting left in the dust – like most political spouses – by a man married to his cause. Yes, Milk was selfish in that sense, but we also see him being deeply compassionate toward his fiercely loyal aides, including Emile Hirsch (star of Penn’s “Into the Wild”) as street-hustler-turned-activist Cleve Jones, and to a young caller from Minnesota threatening to commit suicide because he can no longer deal with living a lie.

Toss in a battle of wits with the dismissive publisher of the gay newspaper, The Advocate, and a fight to defeat Proposition 6, a state initiative to bar gays from teaching positions, and you got yourself a very busy biopic. But Van Sant presents it clearly, concisely and compassionately, deepening both your admiration for Milk and your anger over such a powerful voice silenced long before his time.